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Cold Shooting Leads to First Lobo Loss of Season

LAS VEGAS, Nev.— It was truly a tale of two halves as The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team went cold in the third and fourth quarters, resulting in a 78-60 defeat to UNLV on Friday afternoon.

LaTascya Duff led the Lobos with 17 points with Ahlise Hurst just one point behind her as the only two Lobos to reach double figures in the game. Both Lobos made four three-pointers in the game, tying a season high for Duff.

While Jaedyn De La Cerda was quiet in point production, the senior contributed with a team-high eight rebounds and four assists. Defensively, Shaiquel McGruder and Autumn Watts finished with four and two blocks, respectively, while Watts had a team-high two steals.

The Lobos (5-1, 2-1 MW) got out to a typical fast start in the contest, with LaTora Duff taking the opening tip from McGruder and driving to the basket for the first points of the game just five seconds in.

UNM stretched the lead to seven following an 8-0 run that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 12-5 lead, and the Lobos would continue to hold that lead through the first quarter. Three LaTascya free throws provided the final Lobo points of the quarter to push the margin to UNM’s largest lead of the game of 14 points at 21-7 before the Lady Rebels scored the final basket of the quarter with 1:34 remaining.

LaTora opened the game going a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor for seven early points with LaTascya adding six and Antonia Anderson five in the first 10 minutes.

Of note, it was the fourth time this season that the Lobos have held their opponent to below 10 points in the opening quarter and the second time in Mountain West play.

The scoring started to pick up in the second quarter, with UNLV ultimately bringing the lead back down to single digits at 29-20 with 4:46 left in the quarter. The margin closed to within six at 37-31 with 1:42 remaining, but UNM responded with back-to-back LaTascya threes to create some separation.  UNLV scored the final four points to make it 43-35 at the break. The two teams combined to score 48 points in the second with each team making eight shots. UNM made six three-pointers in the second with Hurst hitting 3-of-4, LaTascya going 2-for-2 and Anderson making her only attempt.

Through the first two quarters, the Lobos were shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from three-point range with 10 made threes. Comparatively, UNLV was just 33.3 percent from the floor and 1-of-6 from distance (16.7 percent).

De La Cerda scored the first points of the third quarter before the Lady Rebels answered with the next eight points to make it a one-possession game at 45-43. A McGruder layup kept the Lobos in front but UNLV scored the next four points to tie the game.

LaTascya put the Lobos back in front with a three and it looked like the Lobos would survive the UNLV wave of points as a Watts steal led to a Corina Carter fast-break layup that made it 56-52 UNM.  However, UNLV finished the quarter with the last five points to take a 57-56 lead into the final 10 minutes.

UNM scored just 13 points in the third quarter with LaTascya accounting for five, De La Cerda four and McGurder and Carter each scoring two points. The Lobos made just one three-pointer on seven tries, while the Lady Rebels hit three, three-pointers.

The trend would continue as the Lobos struggled from the floor in the fourth in the eventual double-digit defeat.

UNM remains in Las Vegas to conclude the two-game series at UNLV (5-5, 3-2 MW) on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. PT/ 3 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

POSTGAME NOTES

  • The Lobos are now 25-38 against UNLV
  • UNM started the same lineup for the sixth time this season: Antonia Anderson, Jaedyn De La Cerda, LaTora Duff, Ahlise Hurst, Shaiqual McGruder
  • LaTascya Duff led the Lobos in scoring for the second time this season after scoring 17 points on Friday
    • Duff scored 28 points at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 17
  • Duff is now the only Lobo who has scored double-digit points in every game this season as LaTora finished with nine points and De La Cerda finished with four points
  • Hurst scored in double figures for the fifth time this season after scoring 16 against the Lady Rebels
  • UNM made 10-plus three-pointers for the fourth time this season, making 11 on Friday
  • McGruder finished with a game-high four blocks, marking the second time this season that the Lobo has had multiple blocks in a game
  • The Lobos held the Lady Rebels to nine points in the first quarter, the fourth time this season that UNM has held its opponent to below 10 points this season.
    • UNM held Midwestern State to six, Arkansas-Pine Bluff to eight, Nevada to eight, and now UNLV to nine.
  • UNLV outscored UNM 43-17 in the final 20 minutes.